Racism in Israel

More than a year has passed since the last mass protest of Israel’s social justice movement. It began in 2011, shortly after the Arab Spring and became known as the Israeli Summer. But for most of the Ashkenazi (European) middle class who became politicized by it, the movement evolved into electoral politics. For others, like the reincarnation of the Israeli Black Panthers, a group called “The Not Nice”, the struggle on the streets never ended. On Thursday, Oct 21st, a unique meeting took place in the poorest neighborhood of Tel Aviv. In this meeting the group invited the residents, mostly Mizrahi (Jews from the Middle East and North Africa) to join in building an Israeli struggle from The Projects.

About 60,000 African migrants have arrived in Israel since 2006, fleeing unrest in their home countries. But upon arrival in the ostensibly democratic country, the migrants have faced intense persecution and have been branded as “infiltrators” by right-wing politicians and activists.

Efforts to reform Israel’s discriminatory land allocation has met with failure, because mayors of impoverished Jewish communities are loath to cooperate with the mayors of Palestinian and Bedouin towns and villages.

In recent weeks, incitement by government officials, rightist settlers, and poor community members against African refugees seeking asylum in Israel escalated into violence. In may Molotov cocktails were thrown into refugee homes, businesses and one kindergarten. The incident did not lead to casualties but inspired a wave of protests leading to a race riot on May 23rd. The Real Newsâ€™ Lia Tarachansky spoke with community members who protested against the refugees, with Mohammad Ibrahim, a refugee from Sudan, Rotem Ilan who volunteers to chaperone refugee children home from kindergartens to avoid violence, and journalist Mya Guarnieri.

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